It was an exciting weekend for high school football in Western New York. With many teams in Section V and Section VI pulling off impressive wins, the Bills and ADPRO Sports have selected Andy Clouse of Akron and John Russ of Honeoye Falls-Lima (HFL) as this week's Coaches of the Week.
For Clouse, the Buffalo Region Coach of the Week, and his Akron squad, the Week 3 contest was a critical one, marking their first win over Cleveland Hill since 1997. In epic fashion, the Tigers put up 47 unanswered points to advance to 3-0 on the season. The victory marked their second consecutive shutout win, having defeated Bishop Timon-St. Jude 32-0 the previous week. Paving the way for the Tigers on the ground was sophomore running back Aidan Smith. Compiling 174 yards rushing on just 14 carries, Smith proved he has a serious set of wheels. The second-year man also dominated on defense, tallying a high of 16 tackles – eight of which were for a loss.
Also, on offense, junior signal caller Adam Mietz put on quite the performance. On five rushing attempts, the QB ran for 120 yards and an astounding four touchdowns. Mietz also showcased his arm strength, throwing for two TDs. Firing on all cylinders, the Tigers put their special teams skills on display when senior Gage Willis took a kickoff return 70 yards to the house to put his team up 34-0 early in the second half.
The Tigers will use the big win to fuel their momentum as they get set to take on the Wilson Lakemen on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. on the road.
The Rochester Region Coach of the Week, John Russ, also helped lead his team to an impressive victory over the weekend, when the HFL Cougars defeated the Batavia Blue Devils 41-7. Coming into the contest, the Blue Devils were the Section V Class B defending champions and were also undefeated on the 2019 campaign. After a convincing two quarters, the Cougars went into the half with a 21-0 lead. Things didn't get easier for Batavia in the second half, as HFL came out of the locker room ready to take their win and run, literally. In the game's first half, the Cougars only passed the ball six times, relying more on their run game to power them to the end zone.
Senior running back Mason Ferrara finished the contest with 254 yards rushing for four touchdowns on 20 carries. On defense, linebacker Cary VanNewkirk had eight tackles, but the entire defense did their part, allowing Batavia just seven points.
With the win, the Cougars are 2-1 and will prepare to take on Brockport on Friday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Check back on buffalobills.com each week for the announcement of the Coach of the Week winners and tune in to "One Bills Live," presented by Kaleida Health, each Tuesday afternoon to hear the winners announced on the show. Good luck to all of the high school football coaches this season from the Buffalo Bills and ADPRO Sports!
About the program:
The Buffalo Bills are once again proudly partnering with ADPRO Sports in 2019 to recognize some of the best high school football coaches Western New York has to offer, through the High School Coach of the Week program. During the 2019 high school football season, the Bills and ADPRO Sports will recognize 11 coaches from both the Buffalo and Rochester regions on buffalobills.com. The winners will be selected by a committee of high school football experts from each region.
